About a year ago, I read a wonderful article in National Geographic titled, "This Is Your Brain On Nature," written by Florence Williams. It spurred me to read more about how spending time in nature positively impacts your brain and body. For instance, exposure to nature seems to have restorative benefits and be a good reducer of stress. There's a ton of research out there (here's a nice summary) including these articles in The Atlantic and Outside Magazine.

I spent time thinking about this and wanted to create a print inspired by both the scientific research and my own family's love of outdoor adventures. This is the resulting linocut print titled, "Mend," that I made from three carved blocks of linoleum. The poster is currently available in my Etsy shop.

"Mend" Linocut Print (2016)

Made some of these Lake Tahoe linocut prints today...good to be back at the press after too long.

Feels good to be back printing. I'll have some of these #Tahoe #linocut prints in my shop in February. #laketahoe #California #travel #printmaking #art #print #artist #outdoors #nature #hiking #camping

A video posted by Boarding All Rows (@boardingallrows) on Jan 26, 2016 at 1:11pm PST

Last month, I took the same block and printed a long-sleeve t-shirt for myself.

Lake Tahoe Block Printed T-Shirt

Mt. Shasta provided the inspiration for the mountain in the background of this two-color, reduction linoleum block print that I finished a few months ago. Beforehand, I did a lot of experimenting with different ways to convey the campfire smoke.

I think of the print as the second in a series of camping prints - this camping print was the first.

"Solitude II" - Camping Linocut Print

The ink is still wet on this 3-color linocut I finished a couple days ago. I have yet to number the edition but hope it will come in at 14-15 prints. The sky was done by reduction and then a second block was carved for the silhouette. If you'd like more details on the step-by-step of this print, please feel free to check out the past few blog posts.

Linocut Print

And, this is how the El Capitan woodblock print I previously mentioned turned out.

El Capitan, Yosemite National Park - Woodcut Print

This is how the mountain relief print turned out - it's now drying for a couple weeks. It combines the use of both wood and lino blocks and I started it last summer but put it aside for a while. I decided to print the actual mountain using a gradation from dark to light. If you're curious about how the project started, you might check out the original post.